


Many Dark Days

by ToreyTaylor



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon, Canon - Original Game, Canonical Character Death, Full game rewrite, Gen, Humor, Original Universe, Original dialogue, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-29
Updated: 2013-10-08
Packaged: 2017-12-13 08:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 16,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/822291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToreyTaylor/pseuds/ToreyTaylor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>ORIGINAL GAME REWRITE - Dark things are happening in Midgar and it's slowly spreading throughout all of Gaia. Shinra, a massive energy corporation, is draining the life source of the planet and slowly but surely, the planet is dying. However, Cloud and his comrades soon come face to face with another, more dangerous, enemy...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beacon of Hope

**Author's Note:**

> This is my version of the original storyline of Final Fantasy VII. The dialogue is roughly the same, though is subject to be ever-so-slightly altered by me.

The young woman seemed mesmerised by the beautiful yet eerie glow of the orbs of Mako energy rising from the tiny furnace that she was facing. Her face glowed and her beautiful large eyes shined as the energy doused her in its warmth. Then, she turned and left. Her heels clacked against the solid ground, echoing against the dark walls of the alley.

She wore her mousy brown hair in a long plait which swayed as she moved through the darkness. Her dress was rose pink in colour. It was long and had a split in the middle which exposed part of her left leg. She also wore a small red bolero cardigan and carried a basket of colourful flowers in her hand.

She left the mouth of the alley and stood facing a road. She seemed too pretty for her glum surroundings. Cars and trucks zoomed past her and people moved across the cityscape, swallowed up by the darkness all around. The road was cobbled and dirty, and likely had years of grime coated on its surface. A lit up sign covered the building wall to her right. On it, the word Loveless glowed. Goblin's Bar stood to her left, an establishment that was aptly named, for all the ruffians of this part of the city liked to gather there.

It was dark, dreary and dirty and the young woman stood out, like a shining beacon of hope. The city was no place for a kind flower lady to make a living. No place at all…


	2. It Begins

Cloud watched the view with uncaring eyes as the train pulled into the station. It was dirty, dark and unappealing. He grunted and shook his head as the train screeched to a halt. He had reached his destination. He got to his feet and watched as his female comrade jumped off the train in a display of extravagancy. He shook his head again and followed her.

His comrade had already made her mark on the guards that were patrolling the station. One was writhing around on the floor, screaming in agony, while the other guard was being pummelled by his assailant's vicious, quick-as-lightning kicks; yet Cloud was still as unimpressed as he was before and merely shrugged.

Just then, another comrade jumped out of the train. He was a large, black man with rippling muscles and a crew-cut and, alarmingly, he had had his left arm replaced with a large gatling gun, for reasons that Cloud did not know and did not care to know, either. He turned to Cloud.

"C'mon newcomer. Follow me," he shouted as he ran up some steps.

Cloud followed him only to be intercepted by more guards. He withdrew his large sword and cut them down with ease. He had battled much fiercer foes in his time. He moved past the bloodied bodies and into the area above. He didn't care to look back.

His comrades were all waiting for him at the gate to the Mako Reactor and Cloud scoffed at the sight of them. They looked less like professional terrorists and more like common thugs.

"Wow!" exclaimed one of them. He was a skinny young man with olive skin and black hair. He had a thin, dark red bandana tied around his hair and wore green overalls. "You used to be in SOLDIER all right! Not everyday ya find one in a group like AVALANCHE."

The woman piped up, "SOLDIER? Aren't they the enemy? What's he doing with us in AVALANCHE?"

"Hold it Jessie," he replied sternly. "He was in SOLDIER. He quit them and now is one of us."

He turned to Cloud, running his finger across his nose casually as if to scratch an itch.

"Didn't catch your name…"

It all seemed too trivial to Cloud. Did it really matter about being on first name terms with each other? They had a job to do together, that was it. They weren't enemies. They weren't friends. They were just working together.

"…Cloud," he eventually replied, albeit hesitantly.

"Cloud, eh?" I'm…"

"I don't care what your names are. Once this job's over… I'm outta here."

Just as the scrawny man tried to answer back, the large, muscled man came darting up the stairs with surprising agility, his gun arm waving in the air dangerously.

"The hell you all doin'! I thought I told you never to move in a group! Our target's the North Mako Reactor. We'll meet on the bridge in front of it."

In complete silence, the group left through the gate, as if answering back to the man would be detrimental to their health. Cloud was beginning to like the guy; a little, at least. The man turned to Cloud and looked at him with eyes that could cut steel.

"Ex-SOLDIER, huh? Don't trust ya!"

He discovered that the man's name was Barret. That was about all he knew about him, and all he cared to know at this point.

Cloud looked up into the sky and saw a huge building looming overhead. It was the Shinra Headquarters. Midgar's elite all worked there. With bulging pay-packets, they were able to live at the top of the city, breathing in the glorious fresh air and admiring the views all around them. Of course, from such a high vantage point, they were also able to keep tabs on the world beneath them, making sure that the 'scum' of lower Midgar never rose to the surface. Cloud neither hated nor liked them. In fact, like most things, he was indifferent to them, even when he was a part of the ranks. Just a job, he'd say. That was all there was to it.

He followed Barret through the gate. A fat man wearing metal shoulder guards, brown leather straps running vertically down his stomach, blue trousers and a red bandana stood in front of then, at the foot of the bridge.

"I'll secure the escape passage. Concentrate on the mission, Cloud." He looked towards the Mako Reactor. "Geez, we're really gonna blow this huge furnace up? This'll be something to see!"

Cloud ignored him and followed the others into the heart of the Mako reactor where the real mission awaited.


	3. The Mission

"Yo!" exclaimed Barret somewhat cheerfully. "This your first time in a reactor?"

"No. After all, I did work for Shinra, y'know."

Barret pointed towards the depth of the reactor which was glowing an eerie green colour.

"The planet's full of Mako Energy," he said. "People here use it every day. It's the life source of the planet. But Shinra keeps suckin' the blood out with these machines."

"I'm not here for a lecture," said Cloud impatiently. "Let's just hurry."

"That's it!" huffs Barret. "You're comin' with me from now on!"

The two unlikely comrades travelled through the reactor. Cloud was undeterred by how vast the reactor was but Barret seemed to be mesmerised by the pools of green liquid that lay at its depths. Cloud didn't understand how people could get transfixed over such things, especially in the middle of a mission. In Cloud's mind, it was best to just focus on the job you were supposed to be doing.

Cloud and Barret met Jessie and the scrawny guy deeper inside the reactor, standing next to a locked door. They appeared smug.

"Biggs and I got the code for this door," she said.

Biggs grinned and then started jamming the number pad with his fingers.

"Code deciphered."

The team headed through the unlocked door and into another corridor. Cloud sighed at the sight of another locked door, but he knew all along that it wasn't going to be easy. He just hoped the geeks in the party knew how to unlock _this_ door too.

"Think how many of our people risked their lives, just for this code…" said Biggs egotistically. Cloud was indifferent to him before. Now, it was plain dislike. He was very annoying.

"Code deciphered," said Jessie.

Cloud, Barret and Jessie continued on into the bowels of the reactor, while Biggs stayed at the door to keep guard. Cloud was quite thankful for it. They eventually came to an elevator and stepped inside.

"Push that button over there!" said Jessie, pointing to a shiny button on the far wall.

Cloud pushed the button and the elevator whirred into life.

"Little by little the reactors'll drain out all the life. And that'll be that," said Barret with a hint of disgust rising into his throat.

"It's not my problem" replied Cloud coldly.

"The planet's dyin', Cloud!"

Not caring about Barret's feelings or the welfare of the planet, Cloud replied, "The only thing I care about is finishin' this job before security and the Roboguards come."

Barret looked at Cloud, his dark eyes full of anger. He grimaced, turned away, and shook. Cloud wondered what his damn problem was. Whatever it was, he certainly wasn't going to try and make amends. He came here to do a job, and that was what he was going to do.

The elevator came to a sudden stop and everyone got out. Jessie stayed by the elevator to make sure no one else tried to use it, while Cloud and Barret entered the deepest part of the reactor, the core.

"When we blow this place, this ain't gonna be nothin' more than a hunka junk," said Barret. He looked at Cloud and said, "Cloud, you set the bomb."

"Shouldn't you do it?"

"Jus' do it! I gotta watch to make sure you don't pull nothin'."

"Fine, be my guest."

Cloud walked towards the bomb when he suddenly felt very faint. He gripped his head with his hands as an eerie voice drifted through his ears.

"Watch out! This isn't just a reactor!" it shouted.

"…What's wrong?" asked Barret.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong, Cloud? Hurry it up!" Barret boomed.

"Yeah, sorry," Cloud replied, unsure as to what had just happened.

Cloud walked to the end of the walkway and looked at the bomb. It was a tricky mechanism for a newbie, but would be a piece of cake for someone like him. He had done things like this many times before, but not as a terrorist. However, he felt no different now than when he was in SOLDIER. He crossed wires and pushed buttons. The bomb had been set. An alarm began to sound and red lights flashed all around them.

"Heads up, here they come!" yelled Barret as he threw his gun arm into the air and adopted a fighting stance.

Cloud whirled around when he heard a huge thunderous roar from behind him. Heading towards them was a huge metal scorpion. The creature was copper coloured and about five times the size of Barret. Its tail rose into the air and shook and then it advanced; it scuttled down the walkway at breakneck speed. Barret emitted a war cry and shot the beast with his gatling gun, but the Guard Scorpion unleashed its own attack from its enormous tail, knocking them both to the ground.

"Better to attack… when its tail is down!" Barret yelled as he massaged his right arm. Cloud noticed that there was a gash across it where the scorpion's laser had struck. The tail buzzed and vibrated and Cloud braced himself for another attack, but instead the tail lowered, giving Cloud an opportunity to strike it.

He conjured a bolt spell and aimed it at the Guard Scorpion's metal body. It screeched as the lightning tore across its metal shell, cracking it in places. Then the body exploded into a thousand pieces, shrapnel flying through the air and some parts missing Cloud by mere inches.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Cloud shouted as he helped Barret to his feet.

They hurried through the lower bowels of the Mako reactor, the sirens cutting into the air and making them all too aware that time was not on their side. They met up with Jessie.

"You all right?" he asked her. She was sitting on the grated floor and looked worried and a little bit hurt.

"My leg got stuck," she said.

Cloud quickly knelt down by her side and encouraged her to twist her foot while he tried to pry the rungs open. It wasted a lot of time, but Cloud wasn't going to leave the reactor and willingly leave his comrades here, no matter how much they annoyed him. Finally, Jessie was freed.

"Thanks!"

They pressed on and met Biggs further up.

"Let's go!" he yelled, and tapped in the numbers for the coded door.

"Code deciphered," stated Jessie.

Cloud shook his head. Did they _really_ need to say that every time they opened a coded door? There was no time to dwell on it. Time was running out, and fast.

They ran through the door.

"Alright, be careful," Jessie told them as they made their way to the other coded door. Biggs jammed the numbers into the pad and finished it off with a "Code deciphered."

Cloud shook his head. They met with Wedge on the bridge and ran towards the exit with only a minute to spare. From behind him, Cloud heard Jessie scream. Turning around, he was shocked to see that she had fallen from the bridge and was hanging on for dear life with her fingers. He ran over to her and pulled her back up and then they darted from the Mako reactor just as the detonator struck zero.

The air vibrated with sound and heat as the reactor exploded behind them. Cloud took one last glance back and saw that the entire area was alight. There was another bang that knocked him off his feet. He cried out, picked himself off the ground, and ran.


	4. My Butt's on Fire!

He didn't know where he was, or how long he had been out for. When he woke up, he noticed that Barret, Biggs, Wedge and Jessie were all sat around him. It was dim, and as he looked around his surroundings he concluded that he was in some sort of tunnel. Everyone seemed to be in disarray. Dirt hung on their faces and their clothes were torn in places. They had barely escaped with their lives.

They sat in silence for a few moments until Biggs said, "That should keep the planet going… at least a little longer."

"Yeah," replied Wedge, rather nonchalantly; it was as if he simply didn't know what else to say.

Barret sat in the far corner and kept himself to himself. Jessie began fumbling with some sort of device that she had attached to the wall.

"OK!" she yelled. "Now everyone get back."

Cloud and the others stood far back against the wall. The wall that Jessie had attached the device to suddenly exploded into flame. A huge gap formed in it. A way out, Cloud assumed. He glanced over at Wedge, who was screaming in agony and clenching his butt with both hands. It was alight. He started fanning the flames with his hands and eventually was able to quell them. Cloud shrugged and rolled his eyes. He didn't have time for this.

"All right," Barret began, "now let's get out of here. Rendezvous at Sector 8 station! Split up and get on the train!"

Biggs, Wedge and Jessie followed Barret's orders and left, while Cloud remained. He faced Barret.

"H, hey!" he began. He needed paying. He didn't care about the planet, or its people. To him, a job was only worth doing for the money.

"If it's about your money save it 'til we're back at the hideout," he said, as if he could reach into Cloud's mind, pull out his thoughts and read them.

Barret left the tunnel and Cloud followed him into the dirty city of Lower Midgar.


	5. Leap of Faith

The pretty girl stood humbly at the edge of the street with her basket of flowers, smiling at passers by even though no one ever returned her smile. Such was the way of life in Midgar. She had become used to it by now. Two people rushed by her, knocking her off her feet. She stood up, brushed herself off and smiled even though there was very little to feel happy about. Sometimes, just smiling seemed to help.

* * *

Cloud had emerged into the slums of Midgar. It was a dirty, rotten place full of hooligans and people with nary a gil to their name, most of which were slumming it on the streets. He glanced across the way and saw a young woman dressed in a long pink dress, holding a basket of flowers. Her long brown hair was blowing in the wind and she was smiling, a rarity in these parts. He walked over to her but was unsure as what to say. He rarely talked to women like this. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy it, but that time rarely permitted it. That, and the jobs he often did.

"Excuse me," she said. Her voice was gentle and had a soothing quality about it. "What happened?" Her emerald eyes glistened even though the light was dim.

"Nothing… hey listen," he said. "Don't see many flowers around here."

"Oh, these? Do you like them? They're only a gil…?"

He had never bought flowers before. They were beautiful. For a gil, he could hardly refuse.

"Oh, thank you! Here you are!"

She handed him a flower and walked away into the darkness. He turned to look at her but she had gone. He continued through the drab streets of the city, feeling cold, hungry and tired. It seemed that the dingy buildings were bearing in on him, crushing him down and suffocating him in darkness. He shook his head and breathed in through his nose. He had to try and clear his head.

"Hey! You there!"

He turned towards the source of the noise and saw a Shinra soldier looking back at him.

"Shinra soldiers…" he muttered to himself.

They seemed to come out of nowhere. There were loads of them, and they had him cornered. He had no choice but to fight. He was able to cut the first group of soldiers down with ease but the second and third waves seemed a lot stronger. He was growing tired. As more and more soldiers appeared from the darkness, Cloud realised that he had no choice but to run; but where? He was cornered.

"That's as far as you go," a soldier told him, his eyes as cool as steel.

"I don't have time to be messin' around with you guys," Cloud said, casually, as if this was a common occurrence for him.

"Enough babbling!" the soldier yelled. "Grab him!"

Cloud backed away as the Shinra soldiers advanced. His hands rested on a metal railing and beneath him lay the Midgar railroad. He looked down and realised that it was far too high to jump down. He was stranded. The soldiers were so close. Suddenly, he heard a roar in the distance. He glanced down the tracks and saw a pair of bright lights advancing towards him. A train. It thundered under him at the speed of light. It was now or never. Cloud jumped over the railing and onto the roof of the train. He had taken a leap of faith, and he had survived it.


	6. Paying Off

The train was awful inside, but Barret hardly cared. He had seen far worse in his job as a terrorist. The walls were made of metal, rusted in a lot of places. Dirty crates lay in corners and the floor space had been taken up mostly with pieces of scrap metal. Wedge had propped himself against a crate while Biggs and Jessie stood further up the cabin.

"Cloud never came," said Wedge, sounding a little nonplussed. Why would he expect anything else of the man? Barret had got the impression that he was a cold-hearted mercenary and nothing more. But then again, he seemed the type to never throw away the chance of some cash.

"Cloud… wonder if he was killed?" asked Biggs.

"No way!" Barret shouted, surprising even himself.

"Cloud…" added Jessie, sounding mystified.

Barret glanced up as something banged the roof of the cabin but he dismissed it instantly and looked back down.

"Say, do you think Cloud's going to fight to the end for AVALANCHE?" asked Biggs.

"The hell would I know?" Barret answered back angrily. "Do I look like a mind reader?"

He hit the crate he was leaning against with his fist. He liked the guys he worked with, but jeez, they got him so angry sometimes.

"Hmph! If y'all weren't such screw-ups…"

"Hey Barret!" Wedge piped up. "What about our money…?"

Enraged, Barret hit the crate again, but Wedge being Wedge didn't take the initiative to stop talking and continued on.

"Uh…nothin'… sorry," he mumbled. He emitted a pathetic yelp and hung his head. Finally got the message, it seemed.

The bangs came again in quick succession. Suddenly, the train door burst open and Cloud waltzed through, landing on his feet in front of Barret.

"Cloud!" Jessie, Biggs and Wedge all shouted in unison. Barret was indifferent. He was just a kid above his station. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet they were all treating him like a celebrity.

"Looks like I'm a little late," Cloud said, ironing out his clothes with a quick brush of his hand.

"You damn right, you're late!" Barret boomed. "Come waltzin' in here makin' a big scene!"

"It's no big deal," Cloud replied with a tone that reeked of aloofness. "Just what I always do."

"Shi't! Havin' everyone worried like that, you don't give a damn 'bout no one but yourself!"

"Hmm… you were worried about me!" Cloud replied.

"Wha!" Barret yelled. "I'm takin' it outta your money, hot stuff!"

Barret walked to the centre of the cabin and gestured wildly with his arms.

"Wake up! We're movin' out! Follow me!"

He exited the cabin, the door to the adjoining one springing shut behind him.

* * *

Cloud was barely out of breath. He took a massive risk, though, and it was playing on his mind somewhat. What if that train hadn't been the one his comrades had gotten on? What if it was going to the other side of Midgar? It wasn't the first time he'd taken risks, though. He was a lucky guy. A risky decision usually paid off. He ruffled his hair with his hand. Jessie was eyeing him, but he tried not to take too much notice. She was a woman, after all.

"Hey Cloud!" yelled Wedge as he walked towards the door to the next cabin. "You were great back there!" He exited through the door.

"Heh heh… Cloud! We'll do even better next time!" said Biggs, a little sheepishly. He followed Wedge through the door and was gone. Only Jessie remained. Cloud gulped, hoping she hadn't noticed his awkwardness. She smiled at him and then walked towards the exit door, which Cloud had left open.

"Be careful," she said, "I'll shut this."

The door closed with a soft thud and the roar from outside quietened. She walked over to Cloud again and peered into his face. He shuffled on his feet awkwardly, but Jessie didn't seem to notice.

"Oh, Cloud! Your face is pitch-black..."

She placed her hand on his face, an invasion of his personal space if ever there was one, and wiped the grime from his cheeks and forehead.

"There you go!" she said cheerfully. "Say, thanks for helping me back there are the reactor!"

"Just did what I had to do," Cloud replied.

They left the cabin together and into the adjoining one.


	7. Formalities

"Last train out of Sector 8 Station," the intercom boomed overhead. "Last stop is Sector 7, Train Graveyard. Expected time of arrival is 12:23 AM, Midgar standard time…"

Cloud, Barret and the others barged into another cabin which was occupied by a couple of punks, an old man, what appeared to be a homeless guy and a man in a crimson red suit. The cabin was well-kept with soft seats and clean, metal walls. Barret plonked himself down on one of the seats and stretched out like he hadn't got a care in the world. The official-looking man turned away and muttered something to himself before leaving.

_Probably doesn't like the idea of sharing a cabin with a couple of shady looking guys like us_ , Cloud thought to himself.

Cloud paced the cabin and glanced at a scruffy-looking man lying lengthways on one of the seats.

"Huh? This is my house, so make yourselves at home," he muttered, more to himself than the people around him. Cloud caught a whiff of booze and body odour on him, turned away and distanced himself from him.

"Stop actin' like a damn kid," Barret said to Cloud. "Si'down and shu'up!"

Cloud wasn't aware that he had even spoken. Perhaps being the leader of a rookie terrorist group was taking its toll on him, Cloud thought.

"Hey, Cloud," said Jessie as he approached her. "You want to look at this with me? It's a map of the Midgar Rail System. Let's look at it together."

"OK," replied Cloud.

"I'll explain it to you. I like this kind of stuff. Bombs and monitors… you know, flashy stuff. Okay, it's about to start."

A huge monitor had been placed on the metal wall panels. Its screen was blank. Cloud wasn't quite sure what he was meant to be looking at until a digitally rendered mesh of Midgar suddenly lit up on the screen.

"This is a complete model of the city of Midgar," Jessie began. "It's about a 1/10000 scale. The top plate is about 50 metres above ground. A main support structure holds the plate up in the centre, and there are other support structures build in each section…"

She leaned closer to Cloud and whispered in his ear, "The no. 1 reactor we blew up was in the northern section. Then there's No. 2, No. 3 all the way up to the No. 8 Reactor. The 8 Reactors provide Midgar with electricity. Each town used to have a name, but no one in Midgar remembers them. Instead of names, we refer to them by numbered sectors. That's the kind of place this is. Phew... this is next! Look."

A blue dotted line weaved through the mesh of Midgar.

"This is the route the train is on," Jessie informed him. "The route spirals around the main support structure. We should be coming around the centre area, right now. At each checkpoint, an ID sensor device is set up. It can check the identities and background on each and every passenger on the train by linking it up to the central databank at Shinra headquarters."

She leaned in again and whispered, "Anyone could tell that we look suspicious, so we're using fake ID's."

Suddenly, a red light started flashing and an intense, high-pitched siren pierced the air.

"Speak of the devil," Jessie said. "That light means we're in the ID Security Check area. When the lights go off, you never know what kind of creeps'll come out," she whispered. "Anyhow, we're almost back now. That's a relief."

After a short while, the red flashing lights ceased and the siren stopped. The dim, yellowy lights came back on and Cloud breathed a sigh of relief. He could hear someone snoring behind him. He turned around and saw Biggs who had fallen asleep standing up.

"Don't act so damn big, Barret," Biggs mumbled, half incoherently.

Barret hadn't heard him and was admiring the 'view' from the window behind him.

"Look… you can see the surface now. This city don't have no day or night," he said. "If that plate weren't there… we could see the sky."

Cloud looked out the window. It was quite a horrific sight. He figured that most people who lived down in lower Midgar never even saw the sky. It all seemed so wrong, but what could he do about it? What could anyone do about it? It didn't really matter what AVALANCHE did. They could try and blow the top plate off lower Midgar and it _still_ wouldn't make a difference. He was really just in it for the money. A pang of guilt tried to surface but he brushed it off as quickly as it came.

"A floating city… pretty unsettling scenery," Cloud said to Barret.

Barret looked at him with an eyebrow raised and said, "Huh? Never expect to hear that outta someone like you. You jes' full of surprises."

He stood up suddenly and started to pace. He was gesticulating with his arms. Cloud thought he looked angry, and who could blame him? That's what lower Midgar did to people.

"The upper world… a city on a plate…It's 'cuz of that damn 'pizza' that people underneath are sufferin'! And the city below is full of polluted air. On topa that, the reactor keeps drainin' up all the energy."

"Then why doesn't everyone move onto the plate?" Cloud asked.

"Dunno. Probably 'cuz they ain't got no money. Or, maybe... 'cuz they love their land, no matter how polluted it gets."

Cloud didn't think anybody lived here because they wanted to. Who would?

"I know…," Cloud began, "no one wants to live in the slums because they want to. It's like this train. It can't run anywhere except where its rails take it."

He sat down and closed his eyes. He didn't want to think about anything else right now. Things were starting to hurt him a little. He slept the rest of the way. When he opened his eyes, they were sore. He rubbed them, stretched and got off the train onto the platform in the Sector 7 Station.

"Yo!" Barret yelled. "Get over here, all' ya!"

Cloud, Biggs, Wedge and Jessie all gathered around Barret. Cloud had to admit, the brute was a good leader. Everyone always obeyed him. Then again, the guy had a gatling gun for a hand…

"This mission was a success. But don't get lazy now. The hard part's still to come! Don't y'all be scared of that explosion! 'Cause the next one's gonna be bigger than that! Meet back at the hideout! Move out!"


	8. Seventh Heaven

Cloud, Barret and the others left the train station, crossed through the slums and stood in front of a dilapidated but somewhat comforting looking bar called Seventh Heaven. Barret waltzed straight into the bar, followed by Biggs, Wedge and Jessie. Cloud jumped as the sounds of rapid gunfire rang through the bar. Seconds passed and patrons ran out the door and into the distance. Barret sure had a way of doing things, Cloud thought.

"OK! Go on ahead," Barret told Cloud as he stepped outside the door to beckon him.

The bar was old and rather shabby but the place had a warm, safe atmosphere. It was very small, with old wooden floors and dim lamps that cast a warming glow around the room. There was only room for two tables. The bar stood at the top left corner. On the right wall was a pinball machine. Tifa, a girl who Cloud had known since childhood, was serving drinks at the bar. God, how long had it been since they last saw each other?

Cloud was roused from his thoughts by the sound of a little girl's voice.

"Papa!"

Her hair was dark, almost black, and her eyes were the colour of chocolate. She wore a pink dress with a large yellow ribbon festooned near the collar. Upon seeing Cloud, she suddenly went very shy and ran into the corner to hide. It was really nothing unusual. Kids didn't seem to like Cloud very much. Tifa ran from behind the bar, knelt down besides her and gave her a cuddle.

"Marlene! Aren't you going to say anything to Cloud?" Tifa asked her.

Tifa stood up and walked over to Cloud, Marlene trailing behind her. She pushed her hair out of her face and smiled, albeit a little nervously.

"Welcome home, Cloud. Looks like everything went well. Did you fight with Barret?"

"Yeah."

"I should have known. He's always pushing people around, and you've always been in fights ever since you were little. I was worried."

Tifa looked down at the flowers that Cloud was holding and beamed.

"Flowers? How nice…" she said, dreamily. "You almost never see them here in the slums."

That was true, flowers hardly grew at all. They couldn't. With no sunlight and the air full of pollution, flowers had no chance to thrive. Cloud suddenly wondered about that mysterious flower lady. Where did she get her flowers from? He'd never know now. The chances of seeing her again were slim. Lower Midgar was a huge place.

"But…a flower for me?" she asked bashfully. "Oh Cloud, you shouldn't have…"

"No big," Cloud replied.

"Thank you, Cloud. It smells wonderful."

She looked around as if inspecting the décor.

"Maybe I should fill the store with flowers," she said, and then knelt down to talk to Marlene.

Cloud looked around and saw Wedge sitting on a stool, massaging his stomach.

"Oh. Cloud!" he exclaimed. "Tifa really knows how to cook." He licked his lips. "Anyway, let me tell you somethin'."

"About what?"

"Tifa always lets me taste her cooking. And look at me now, I'm rolly-polly. Don't know whether I should be happy or sad. But it's the good food and drinks that make this shop famous."

Biggs was sat at the bar. After listening to Wedge's story, Cloud walked over to him. He appeared quite drunk.

_Lightweight,_ thought Cloud.

"Aah! Nothin' like that first drink after a job." He hiccupped. "Why don't you have one too?"

"No," Cloud replied.

"What!?" he spluttered. "You tellin' me you're too good to drink with me? Don't act big-headed jus' because you were in SOLDIER!"

The real reason was because he annoyed Cloud with his immaturity. Besides, he had other things to be doing with his time. Getting smashed out of his face with booze wasn't on the agenda.

The door to the bar sprang open and Barret stormed in.

"Papa!" cried Marlene. "Welcome home!"

Barret picked his daughter up and placed him on his shoulders. Cloud had to admit, the sight of it warmed him a little. She seemed like such a charming little girl, and he could tell that Barret's heart was in the right place.

"You alright, Barret?" Tifa asked him.

He nodded and then shouted for the group to follow him into the hideout. The hideout turned out to be downstairs, the entrance to it being hidden under the pinball machine. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie followed Barret, but Cloud stayed behind and walked up to the bar to talk to Tifa. She smiled and asked him to sit down.

"How about something to drink?"

"Give me something hard," Cloud said. He decided he needed a drink after all.

"Just a minute, I'll make one for you."

She studied the drinks and mixers behind the bar, mixed him a drink and slid it across the counter for him.

"You know, I'm relieved you made it back safely."

"What's with you all of a sudden?" Cloud asked. "That wasn't even a tough job."

"I guess not…" replied Tifa, sounding rather crestfallen. "…You were in SOLDIER."

She leaned over to him.

"Make sure you get your pay from Barret."

"Don't worry. Once I get that money, I'm outta here."

"Cloud, are you feeling alright?" said Tifa as he stood up.

"…Yeah…why?" he asked her.

"No reason. You just look a little tired I guess."

Cloud yawned. He _was_ tired. He couldn't rest just yet though. There was still so much to do. He said his goodbyes to Tifa and headed downstairs to the hideout.


	9. A Difference of Opinion

The hideout was small, cluttered and dirty. A table was set in the middle of the room and on top of it were some sheets of paper with hastily drawn plans scribbled on them. Biggs seemed to be eyeing them but had a perplexed look on his face as if he didn't really understand them. Wedge was also standing at the table, but appeared to be falling asleep.

In the top right corner was a large television that was resting on some cardboard boxes that had been stacked up high. A news broadcast lit up the screen. Jessie was sat at a computer next to it, typing away, her fingers click-clacking on the keys.

Barret was knocking seven shades out of a punch bag in the left corner while Marlene was sat on some cardboard boxes next to him, swinging her feet idly back and forth, seemingly indifferent about her father's aggressive nature.

"Yo, Cloud!" Barret yelled. "There's somethin' I wanna ask ya. Was there anyone from SOLDIER fighting us today?"

"None. I'm positive," Cloud replied.

"You sound pretty sure," Barret replied, a little stiffly.

"If there was anyone from SOLDIER you wouldn't be standing here now," Cloud replied cockily.

"Don't go thinkin' you so bad jes cuz you was in SOLDIER."

Barret erupted into another one of his rages that Cloud had seen too many times already. He raised his fists into the air and started shaking them. His face turned into a grimace. He looked like a child who couldn't get his own way, Cloud thought, deciding to keep that to himself. Biggs tried to hold him back and failed as the brute sent him flying through the air with his gun arm. The skinny guy emitted a cry of defeat and lay there massaging his chest casually as if it had happened many times before.

"Yeah, you're strong," Barret continued. "Probably all them guys in SOLDIER are. But don't forget your skinny ass's working for AVALANCHE now! Don't get no ideas 'bout hangin' on to Shinra."

"Stayin' with Shinra? You asked me a question and I answered it… that's all. I'm going upstairs. I want to talk about my money."

Just as Cloud turned to leave the hideout, Tifa rode the pinball machine down.

"Wait! Cloud!" she huffed. She sounded out of breath.

"Tifa! Let him go!" yelled Barret. "Looks like he still misses the Shinra!"

Cloud whipped round and faced him.

"Shut up! I don't care about Shinra or SOLDIER!" he erupted. "But don't get me wrong! I don't care about AVALANCHE or the Planet for that matter!"

Enraged, he ascended back into the bar and paced, not really sure what to do or think. Moments later Tifa emerged from the hideout.

"Listen, Cloud. I'm asking you. Please join us."

"Sorry Tifa…" Cloud replied, turning away from her.

"The planet is dying. Slowly but surely it's dying. Someone has to do something."

"So let Barret and his buddies do something about it. It's got nothin' to do with me."

Cloud walked towards the front door. He liked Tifa a lot but he cared nothing for the planet. If Barret wanted to protect it, then so be it. He didn't want to be a part of it.

"So!" Tifa huffed. "You're really leaving!? You're just going to walk right out ignoring your childhood friend!?"

Cloud turned around to face her once more.

"What…? How can you say that!"

Tifa put her hands on her waist.

"You forgot the promise, too," she said.

"Promise?" Cloud asked, confused. He couldn't remember any promise. He wasn't the kind of guy who made promises. They could be broken so easily.

Tifa looked down at the ground.

"So you _did_ forget. Remember… Cloud, it was seven years ago. Do you remember the well?"

"Yeah… back then," he replied. "I thought you would never come, and I was getting a little cold."

He thought back to that day, and suddenly everything came flooding back.


	10. The Promise

He was back in Nibelheim, his and Tifa's hometown. It was a glorious night, just getting dark, and the azure blue sky was filled with stars. He was sat on the large wooden well that was the centrepiece for the village. Quaint houses surrounded him and the street was cobbled. The air was mild, but he remembered getting chilly sat high up on the well, and he wondered if Tifa would ever show up.

"Sorry I'm late," Tifa said as she approached him from behind. She sat down beside him. She wore a turquoise dress and shoes to match. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?"

Cloud hesitated for a second, looking into the sky as if trying to garner inspiration from it.

"Come this spring… I'm leaving this town for Midgar."

Tifa sighed and looked down at her shoes.

"… All boys are leaving our town."

"But I'm different from all of them," he declared. "I'm not just going to find a job." He stood up. "I want to join SOLDIER. I'm going to be the best there is, just like Sephiroth."

"Sephiroth… the great Sephiroth," Tifa said dreamily.

Cloud climbed to the top of the well and looked up at the starry sky.

"Isn't it hard to join SOLDIER?"

Cloud nodded and then said, "I probably won't be able to come back to this town for a while."

"Will you be in the newspapers if you do well?" Tifa asked.

"I'll try."

"Hey, why don't we make a promise?" Tifa said excitedly. "Umm, if you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind, you come save me, all right?"

"What?" Cloud replied.

"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once."

"What?" Cloud said again. He was clueless about girls. He didn't understand them at all.

"Come on-!" she pleaded. "Promise me-!"

Cloud sighed and then said, "All right… I promise."

Cloud looked up into the starlit sky as a shooting star, glowing bright white, zoomed across the horizon.

_I promise._


	11. A Little Respite

He couldn't believe he'd forgotten. He'd let her down, his childhood friend. Yet here she was, bright-eyed and cheery from the pleasure of seeing him again. He didn't deserve her kindness. He deserved it from no one. He had SOLDIER's blood running through his veins. You had to be cold-hearted to be one of the ranks. He should never have made a promise he couldn't keep.

"You remember now, don't you… our promise?"

"I'm not a hero," he admitted, "and I'm not famous. I can't keep… the promise."

"But you got your childhood dream, didn't you? You joined SOLDIER."

Cloud looked at the ground, not knowing what to say.

"So come on! You've got to keep your promise…"

Cloud was spared from answering when he saw Barret climb up the elevator like a huge spider. The man knew no boundaries, that was for sure.

"Wait a sec big-time SOLDIER!" he huffed. "A promise is a promise! Here!"

He fished out a bag of gil from his jacket pocket and threw it to Cloud. He caught it with a swift hand. 1500 gil. That was a pittance. The job was worth more than that. He raised his concerns with Barret.

"This is my pay? Don't make me laugh."

"What? Then you'll…!" Tifa gasped.

"You got the next mission lined up? I'll do it for 3000."

"What…!?" Barret yelled, seemingly enraged. Cloud didn't understand the guy.

"It's ok, it's ok," Tifa said to him and then whispered something to him that Cloud couldn't hear.

"That money's for Marlene's schoolin'," Barret replied, just audible to Cloud's ears. He turned to Cloud again. "2000!"

Well, it was better than nothing, he supposed.

"Thanks Cloud," Tifa said as she walked up to him.

He was beat, so he decided to retreat to the basement so that he could take a little respite. There, he could focus his energy on the next mission without having anyone disturb him… hopefully. He realised, half an hour later, that he'd done more than focus his energy; he'd fallen asleep, something he really didn't want to do. He shook his head and made his way back upstairs to see that Tifa and Barret were waiting for him.

"Our target's the Sector 5 Reactor," said Barret. "Head for the station first. I'll fill you in on the train."

Cloud just nodded at him.

"Yo! Cloud!" bellowed Barret. "Before the next mission, I got somethin' I wanna ask you! I, uh… I don't really know how to use Materia. I'll give you that Materia you found. Just teach me how to use it!"

Cloud sighed. He didn't really expect anything else from a brute like Barret. He was all muscle and brawn. Even so, they were comrades now and if the mission was successful, he'd get his money, so he gave Barret an in-depth tutorial about Materia, albeit unwillingly, of course.

"Shi…!" exclaimed Barret, like he'd just stubbed his toe on a sharpened object. "What's this 'It wasn't that tough!' crap! I'm clueless…"

Cloud sighed, louder this time.

"Well, you handle the Materia then!"

"I'm going this time," Tifa chimed in. She turned to Cloud. "Cloud! I got a message from the Weapon Shop man upstairs. He has something he wants to give you. Don't forget!"

She walked over to Marlene who was happily playing behind the bar, pretending to be all grown up and mixing drinks.

"Marlene, you watch the store while we're gone!"

"All right!" the little girl said. "Good luck."

Cloud, Tifa and Barret left Inn and headed for the Weapon Shop so that they could gather a few supplies for the next mission.


	12. Limit Break

Above the Weapon's Shop was a room known as the Beginner's Hall. It was a dusty old room full to the brim with wooden crates. On top of the crates, children play-fought and tried to master the techniques they'd learned from the adults that were nearby.

_Ah, to be a child again,_ Cloud thought. _Not a care in the world._

While there, Cloud and his team managed to get their hands on an All Materia, as well as an Ether and a few other oddities that would surely come in handy for the next mission.

Just as they were about to leave, one of the children decided to up the ante and started hitting his combatant with all of his might.

"Help!" screamed the child, turning her back to her aggressor in the hope that he'd stop. When he didn't, Cloud intervened.

"You've got to hang in there," he told her. "Your limit gauge is just starting to build."

The three brawny adults that were stood in front of them screamed in unison, as if they had never before witnessed a fiercer fight.

_Bunch of cowards,_ thought Cloud, shaking his head.

He watched the girl carefully as she hung in there and tried to block the boy's punches as best as she could. Her face was a picture of steely determination. As a seasoned professional, Cloud could tell when someone had neared their limit, and the girl had just reached hers.

"Ok! Now your limit gauge is full, go ahead and use it! Fight with your limit technique."

Taking Cloud's advice in her stride, the girl suddenly whipped around and threw brutal punches as fast as the wind, knocking her opponent to the ground in a flash.

"Great!" Cloud exclaimed.

Everyone in the room whooped and cheered at the girl's display of her hidden strength. After a moment or two, the boy stood up, dusted himself off and shook her hand.

"Wait!" shouted a man wearing a white tank top, jeans and a hardhat, just as Cloud and his team were about to leave for the second time. "You say you're a beginner?" he began, looking intently into Cloud's eyes. "But your eyes say you're not."

Cloud, feeling a sense of pride boom in his chest, said to him, "Don't mess with me. I used to be in SOLDIER. I'll tell you how much I know… an' for free too!"

The man took him up on his offer, which pleased Cloud greatly. He hadn't joined SOLDIER just to fight. He had joined to better himself in the world of combat. He taught the man everything he knew; he was, however, regretting that he'd tell it all for free!

Back in the Weapon's Shop, the trio were collared by the sales clerk.

"Hey HEY! Waitaminit you! You can't just walk outta here without buying somethin'... Might be unhealthy for ya, if you know what I mean."

The clerk, while maybe not having the best sales pitch, still managed to persuade Cloud to buy a few things.

Next stop was the item and Materia Shop. An elderly man owned it and was clearly surprised to see them.

"Oh! Look at this! This doesn't happen everyday. You a… customer?"

He laughed heartily, like he had just received some brilliantly life-changing news.

"Yes! Welcome! We sell! We buy!"

Cloud decided to buy a supply of potions and some new destructive Materia. Potions were a life-saver; destructive Materia just made fighting a whole lot easier.

They thanked the shopkeeper, who in turn thanked _them_ for supporting his future, and made their way to the train station.


	13. The Pursuit

The train was filled with people – commuters, loners, drunkards and homeless people mostly. Barret was instantly unnerved by this.

"Yo!" he yelled. "Looks like this ain't no private car! So split up!"

Cloud saw the brute's face crumple like a bad smell had just offended his nostrils. He was glaring at a snobby commuter in a pristine scarlet coloured suit. He ran down the length of the car, his footfalls sounding monstrous, and stood in front of the man, who had now sat down.

"You say sumthin'?"

His question was greeted with a tense silence. If the man had said something, Cloud thought, he sure wasn't going to admit to it.

"I said, 'you say somethin'!?" Barret repeated.

When he still didn't get a response he inched close to the man's face and said, with an intimidating demeanour, "Yo, look at that! It got empty alluva sudden. What's goin' on?"

"DAMN!" the man donned in scarlet suddenly piped up. "I… it's empty because of g, guys like you…"

Barret swooped in like a crazed bat and punched the seat next to the commuter with such force that it seemed to shake the entire car.

"Y, Y, YIPES!" he screamed. "You… you've seen the news, right? AVALANCHE says there'll be more bombings. Only devoted employees like me would go to Midgar on a day like today."

Barret suddenly took a step back.

"You workin' for Shinra?"

"I won't give in to violence," the man humbly announced. "And I'm not giving you my seat either!" he finished, with a clear snootiness in his voice.

Barret seemed to be gearing up for another insult but Tifa stopped him before he could open his mouth. She ran the entire length of the car, her ponytail swinging back and forth.

"Barret!" she yelled.

"Bastard! You lucky bastard!" roared Barret, gritting his teeth.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Cloud asked as Tifa led Barret back up to the rear of the car. He couldn't care less about petty arguments with petty businessmen, especially businessmen who worked for Shinra, the so-called supplier of electricity throughout Midgar. Cloud knew other things though, things that the multi-million-gil corporation would rather keep hidden.

"Shit!" shouted Barret. "The hell you so calm about? You bustin' up my rhythm…"

Suddenly the train whirred into motion and they began to move.

"Seems like they just finished connecting the cars," said Tifa. "We're finally leaving."

"So what's our next target?" asked Cloud, eager to get the mission rolling.

"Hah! Listen to Mr. Serious-about-his-work!" roared Barret with a mocking laugh. "Awright…I'll tell ya! Jessie's already probably told you, but there's a security check point at the top plate. It's an ID scan system checkin' all the trains."

"Which Shinra is very proud of," added Tifa with a hint of disgust in her voice.

"We can't use our fake ID's anymore…" continued Barret.

A loud voice boomed through the car as an automated message sounded.

' _Good morning, and welcome to Midgar lines. Arrival time to sector 4 station will be 11:45."_

"That means we've got only three more minutes to the ID check point," said Tifa worriedly.

"Alright, in three minutes we're jumpin' off this train." yelled Barret. "Got it!?"

It seemed like less of a plan and more of a recipe for disaster. Did Barret realise how fast the train was moving? Not only that, but if they all jumped too soon they'd be miles from their destination. The guy might be all brawn, but he certainly wasn't very brainy. Still, it wasn't his problem. As long as he got his money…

"Cloud, come over here!" Tifa called. She was at the other end of the car. "Let's look at the Railway Map Monitor."

Cloud ambled over, disinterested. Jessie had already shown him and he didn't really wish to see it again. Tifa apparently noticed his indifference.

"Hmm, it looks like you've seen this already… It's alright," she cooed. "Come a little closer."

He edged closer, so close now that he could smell her freshly shampooed hair. Suddenly, an ear-piercing siren reverberated through the car, and a red light flashed on and off.

"That's odd," said Tifa, turning to face Cloud. "The ID Check Point was supposed to be further down."

' _Type A Security Alert!'_ a voice blared. ' _Unidentified passengers confirmed… a search of all cars will be conducted! Repeat! Type A Security Alert! Unidentified passengers confirmed… a search of all cars will be conducted!_

"What's happening?" Tifa groaned.

Barret thundered down the length of the car, his footfalls heavy, to meet them.

"What's goin' on! he yelled, alarmed.

A girl in a Shinra uniform came rushing through the doors that connected the car they were in to the next one. It looked a lot like Jessie, Cloud realised.

"We're in trouble," she told them. "I'll explain later. Hurry! Get to the next car!"

"Shit!" Barret screamed. "Someone blew it…"

' _Unidentified passengers located in car 1. Preparing for Lock Down.'_

"Let's go!" Barret ordered. "Keep it up!"

They bolted through the door and into the second car just as the locks clicked into place. A second later and they'd have been trapped in there, and subsequently captured and taken into custody.

The automated voice blared again.

' _Car 1: Locked Down. Upgrading to Level 2 Warning_.'

Biggs and Wedge were in this car, and beckoned them over.

"Hurry!" Biggs cried, his voice frantic.

"They're gonna lock the door, sir!" Wedge yelled.

Biggs and Wedge disappeared through the door ahead, quick as a flash.

"Just run!" cried the girl, as the automated voice boomed over her. "Changing to Plan 2!"

_Some plan_ thought Cloud as his heart thundered in his chest. He might have the skills of someone from SOLDIER but he wasn't cut out for this kind of amateur shit. This kind of thing whittled your stamina down to zero because it was too abrupt and messy. A good plan needed stability.

Still, he had to give it a try. Tifa and Barret followed her into the car ahead and Cloud tagged along behind.

As soon as they entered the third car, the voice blared again. It had a haunting quality to it now, like a malevolent spirit that you could never run from. Then, with a stroke of luck, the flashing lights and sirens ceased, leaving Cloud with a faint buzzing noise in his ears, as well as the sound of his own blood pumping through his brain.

"Awright!" Barret cheered. "We clear!?"

"Not yet," the girl who looked a lot like Jessie informed the group. "They're starting another check. If we're caught, we're done for! But, don't worry. If we move up the train, car by car, we should get past it!"

_Oh great_ Cloud thought. So it still wasn't over. He guessed that this was just the eye of the storm.

' _Unidentified passengers: Moving to front of train. Currently tracking location.'_

They were really cutting it fine now. Cloud, Tifa and Barret bolted through the car and into the adjoining one, with just seconds to spare.

'Car 3: Locked down. Upgrading to Warning Level 4'.

In the final car, the voice informed its passengers that the maximum security had just been reached. Cloud likened the voice to a bad smell that wouldn't go away, or an itch that only worsened in severity the more you scratched at it. It was a sign that things couldn't really get any worse than this… unless they got caught, of course. He couldn't let that happen.

Cloud eyed Jessie; she was stood at the very front of the train next to a man wearing a very fake moustache and a concealing trench coat. He followed Barret and Tifa down the car towards them.

"All right!" cheered Barret. "We made it! Let's go! We're gonna dive outta here!"

The girl in the Shinra uniform looked at Cloud and beckoned him to come a little closer.

"It's me, Jessie," she informed him. "How do I look, Cloud? Do I look good in a Shinra uniform?"

"Yeah, you look great, just like a man."

"Yay!" Jessie squealed. "I'm so happy… I think?"

Tifa turned to Cloud this time. What was it with girls wanting his attention all the time? He didn't give any signals out. He just kept himself to himself. In fact, he considered himself to be a cold mercenary. Maybe it turned them on.

"Scary… huh," she said to him, a shake in her voice.

"Too late to be saying that now," said Cloud coldly. "Why'd you come along anyway?"

"Because…"

"Hey you two!" Barret interrupted. "There ain't no time for that!"

"Yeah!" Tifa suddenly blurted. "I've made up my mind! Watch closely. I'm gonna jump!"

And before Cloud could even blink, she had done it. She'd jumped. He had to admit, the girl had gusto. He turned to Barret.

"You don't care if I go first?"

"A leader always stays to the end," Barret told him. "Don't worry 'bout me, just go!"

Cloud walked over to the open door. A cold wind was slamming into his face and the noise from outside was deafening.

"Yo! Don't go gettin' your spikey-ass hurt! It's only the beginnin' of the mission!"

And with that in mind, Cloud jumped.


	14. Flashback

The jump wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. He'd rolled onto the floor, using his arms and legs as protection. He'd come out of it without a scratch. So had Tifa, luckily.

They were in a tunnel-like structure that was that was composed entirely out of metal, and had massive poles supporting it in the centre. Lights, red, green and yellow, flashed in a non-unison fashion. They must have been really close to their destination by now.

Barret met up with them a few minutes later, holding his head and wearing a sheepish expression.

"Good, so far everything's going as planned," he told the group, trying to ignore the fact that his jump hadn't been as polished as he'd hoped. "Better not let your guard down till we get to the Sector 5 Reactor. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie got everything ready for us. So MOVE it."

He inspected his surroundings for a brief moment.

"Well, the reactor's just down this tunnel!" he told Cloud and Tifa as they began to traverse the tunnel. They didn't get very far; as they rounded a corner they found that they couldn't get any further.

"Those light beams are the Shinra's security sensors. We can't go any further," said Cloud, as they stood before five neon green beams.

He looked to his left and saw a small hole in the tunnel wall.

"That's one damn tiny hole," scoffed Barret. "You tellin' me to squeeze into that to get under the plate? No way! Yo, Cloud, what're we gonna do?"

"We'll look inside closely," replied Cloud.

They knelt down and inspected the hole scrupulously.

"…There seems to be nothing that'll get us stuck in this duct," said Tifa after a short while.

"Yeah. If we go down this duct, we won't be able to come back up here," Cloud warned.

Barret seemed unsure and started pacing, but finally admitted it was the best idea yet.

"Don't be wastin' time. Never know when the Shinra'll find us," he said. "Cloud, you jes' gotta go."

Cloud nodded.

"But, damn man, that thing gives me the chills," Barret admitted.

Cloud went through the duct first, followed closely by Tifa and finally, Barret. The thing was infested with pesky little bug-like creatures; mutated scorpions and the like. They were easy enough to deal with, his blade cutting through their flesh like butter. With Tifa's fists of iron and Barret's gun arm, any creatures they came face to face with didn't really stand a chance. Would they be able to fight off masses of soldiers as easily? He doubted it. They had to move fast, and stealthily.

They met Jessie as they descended further into the metal metropolis that housed the reactor. She appeared crestfallen. Cloud asked her why.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, looking down at her feet. "The ID scan problem on the train was all my fault. I made your ID card special… so that's why it happened… I put my heart into making it. But I failed."

Cloud patted her on the back and said that it didn't matter anymore. It had already happened. No point in dwelling.

As they went deeper in, they met up with Biggs, who informed them that they were going to pull out and that they would meet them back at the hideout.

"Cloud, we're countin' on you to blow the reactor!" he exclaimed before saluting them and running off back in the opposite direction.

Cloud, Tifa and Barret continued on and eventually made it to the reactor. A huge furnace puffing out plumes of Mako energy stood in the centre of the colossal metal building. Machines whirred noisily in the background and the ground shook. Cloud surveyed his surroundings. They needed to reach the bottom floor, but there were no stairs or ladders close by. Instead, they had to slide down a massive chute. As usual, the only person who objected was Barret. With a few words of advice from Cloud (more like a hard shove) he ended up being the first one down.

There was a bridge at the bottom, spanning the entire length of the building, wall to wall. Beneath the bridge swirled masses and masses of pure Mako energy, bright aqua in colour. Cloud and his team would place the bomb at the far right side of the bridge and then get themselves back to safety before it went off.

Without warning, Cloud felt a sharp pain in his temples and a searing sound roared through his ears. Collapsing to the ground, he merely closed his eyes for a second before he fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Papa…" Tifa cried as the body of a man lay before her. A long, thin sword lay next to him, slick with blood. "Sephiroth!? Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he!?"

She knelt down next to him and held his lifeless body in her hands.

"Sephiroth… SOLDIER… Mako Reactors… Shinra… Everything!" She looked up and held her arms out despairingly. "I hate them all!"

Cloud could only watch helplessly as Tifa ran into the heart of the Mako Reactor.

* * *

"Damn man, get a hold of yourself!" Barret yelled, rousing Cloud from a deep sleep.

He was lying face down on the ground. The floor was freezing against his flesh. He looked up to see Tifa striding towards him.

"You all right?" she asked him.

"…Tifa," he muttered, vivid images from the dream flashing before his eyes.

"Mmm?"

"No… forget… come on, let's hurry!"

He quickly stood up, brushed himself off and planted the bomb at the far right side of the bridge. Cloud knew of a shortcut back to safety, but on the way they came across a heavily guarded door, complete with a three-man locking system.

"Jessie said we all have to push the button at once," said Tifa as they stood before a large metal panel with three large, square buttons set upon it.

Cloud and Tifa pushed theirs in unison, but Barret was just a little too late, and the door remained firmly shut. Their next attempt was a success. With little time to spare, the trio raced through the open door, into another bridged area. The slums stood hundreds of metres below them. Just looking down made Cloud feel physically sick.

"This way!" Barret yelled as he ran towards the left exit.

A horde of Shinra soldiers dived through the door.

"Shinra soldiers!?" he gasped. "SHIT! What the hell's goin' on?"

"…a trap…" muttered Cloud. Suddenly, he could hear footsteps…


	15. Airbuster

A blond, heavyset man wearing a scarlet coloured suit and donning shoes that click-clacked stood in the centre doorway, his face slightly upturned, as if to imply that those standing before him were inferior to him.

"Presi… President Shinra?" Barret gasped.

"Why is the President here?" Tifa wondered.

"Hmm… So you all must be that… what was it?" began the President in a stuck-up, nasally voice.

"AVALANCHE!" Barret suddenly boomed. "And don't ya forget it! And you're President Shinra, huh?"

Cloud walked a few metres towards the President so that he could stand face to face with him. He wasn't scared of someone like him. Besides, President Shinra would never lay a finger on someone he considered lowly. He'd get his henchmen to do it for him.

"Long time no see, President," he said, coolly.

"Long time no see?" the President replied, as if Cloud wasn't worth remembering. "Oh… you," he suddenly said with a hint of disgust. "You're the one who quit SOLDIER and joined AVALANCHE. I knew you'd been exposed to Mako, from the look in your eyes… Tell me, traitor, what was your name?"

"Cloud."

"Forgive me for asking, but I can't be expected to remember each person's name." He raised a blond, bushy eyebrow. "Unless you become another Sephiroth. Yes, Sephiroth. He was brilliant. Perhaps too brilliant…"

"Sephiroth…?" Cloud gasped. He stepped back. That name sent shivers down his spine, even now.

Barret suddenly pushed past Cloud, his arms flailing.

"Don't give a damn 'bout none of that!" he bellowed, his voice full of steely anger. "This place's goin' up with a big BANG soon! Serves y'all right!"

The President casually counteracted Barret's angry tirade as though he was nothing more than a pesky insect.

"And such a waste of good fireworks, just to get rid of vermin like you…"

"VERMIN!?" Barret screamed. "That's all you can say… VERMIN! Y'all Shinra're the VERMIN, killing the planet! And that makes you King VERMIN! So shu'up jackass!"

Cloud cringed. Barret was a loose cannon, that was for sure, and had a loose tongue to boot. He also appeared to have a death wish. People who spoke to the President with such vile words rarely lived for very long, in Cloud's knowledge. A crook like him had ways of getting rid of those who spoke out. And they didn't even have to lay a finger on them to do it.

"….You are beginning to bore me," the President huffed. "I'm a very busy man, so if you'll excuse me… I have a dinner I must attend."

Barret rushed towards the President. Cloud braced himself for an impact, but Barret stopped short.

"Dinner!? Don't gimme that! I ain't even started wit' you yet!"

"But I've made arrangements for a playmate for you all."

The President clicked his fingers and smiled nastily.

Tifa whipped her head round to her left, towards the source of a very frightening noise.

"What's that noise?" she gasped.

It was a whirring, buzzing sound, like some sort of heavy machinery that had gone haywire. It wasn't long before the origin of the noise came into focus; a huge, hulking robot that had been created to resemble a soldier; kind of like a mecha-soldier, Cloud thought.

"The hell is this!?" Barret yelled, waving his fist.

"Meet 'Airbuster'," the President said with a sense of pride in his voice. "A techno-soldier. Our Weapon Development Department created him. I'm sure the data he'll extract from your dead bodies will be of great use to us in future experiments."

"…Techno-soldier?" Cloud asked. Looked like mecha-soldiers were a thing of the past. These 'techo-soldiers' were the new thing now. It was gut-wrenching, but not all that surprising to learn that this was what Shinra was busy with these days.

_War-mongers_ Cloud thought.

A helicopter rose up from the depths below, no doubt to take the President away from the soon-to-be battleground and to whisk him away to his 'dinner party'.

"Now then," he began smugly, "if you'll excuse me."

"Wait, President!" Cloud yelled, running up to him, but it was too late. He'd hopped into the helicopter and was away.

_Coward!_

"Yo, Cloud!" shouted Barret, facing 'Airbuster'. "We've gotta do somethin' 'bout him!"

'Airbuster' suddenly started to advance on Barret and Tifa, eventually cornering them.

"Help, Cloud!" Tifa screamed. "THIS is from SOLDIER?"

"No way!" Cloud replied. "It's just a machine."

"I don't care what it is!" Barret yelled. "I'm gonna bust him up!"

Since 'Airbuster' was focusing on Barret and Tifa, Cloud was able to get in behind and unleash the first attack. His sword wasn't powerful enough, however, and simply clashed off the robot's solid metal armour.

"Try using Bolt on it!" Tifa suggested.

Before he could wield the spell, 'Airbuster' unleashed a devastating rocket attack that forced Cloud to the ground. Tifa took her own advice and quickly cast a Bolt spell on it. Its metal casing fizzled and popped. It looked like it had been weakened. Barret unleashed a torrent of bullets at it while Cloud slashed it again with his sword. A final Bolt spell from Cloud finally rendered the robot useless.

'Airbuster', now broken beyond repair, started to shake uncontrollably. Plumes of smoke rose from it and electricity crackled from within it. Suddenly, the robot exploded, sending shockwaves through the air and a huge gaping hole in the floor. Cloud lost his footing and was dangling perilously above the slums below, hanging onto dear life with his right arm. A fall from this height would certainly end in death.

"It's gonna blow!" yelled Barret. "Let's go, Tifa!"

"Barret!" she cried. "Can't you do something?"

"Not a damn thing."

"Cloud! Please don't die! You can't die! There's still so much I want to tell you!" sobbed Tifa as she helplessly watched him.

"I know, Tifa…" Cloud replied, his voice breathy as he tried desperately to cling on.

"Hey, you gonna be awright?" Barret asked.

"You worry about yourselves! I'm alright, but take care of Tifa!"

He didn't know how much longer he could hold on.

"…Alright. Sorry 'bout all this."

"Stop talkin' like this is the end!" demanded Cloud.

"Alright, then, later," Barret said.

A massive explosion suddenly ripped through the reactor, knocking Barret and Tifa to the ground. Cloud, unable to withstand the shockwaves, lost his grip and fell to the slums below…


	16. The Flower Girl

"…You all right?" came an eerie voice that sounded miles away.

"Can you hear me?"

"…Yeah…" Cloud mumbled.

"Back then…" the voice continued, "You could get by with just skinned knees…"

Barely there, and not sure where he was or whether he was actually still alive, Cloud decided to talk back to the haunting voice.

"…What do you mean by 'back then'?"

"What about now? Can you get up?"

Where was he?

"…What do you mean by 'that time'? … What about now?"

"…Don't worry about me," said the voice. "You just worry about yourself now."

"…I'll give it a try," Cloud said.

"How about that? Take it slow now. Little by little..."

"I know," Cloud replied.

"Hello, hello?" interjected another voice. This voice, belonging to a young woman it sounded like, seemed closer.

"Hey… who are you?" asked Cloud, his eyes heavy and unresponsive.

"Hello, hello!" the voice chirped.

He opened his eyes. They were sore and his vision was blurred. He blinked a few times, trying to refocus his lenses. A roof came into view. It was high up, and intricately designed.

_Like a church roof_ , he thought. _How did I get into a church?_

It was also dilapidated, with a huge hole in the centre of it, prompting Cloud to believe he was in the slums.

"You okay?" a woman's voice asked.

He cocked his head and saw a familiar looking woman peering down at him, her eyes full of warmth and her mouth upturned into a smile. The flower girl.

"This is a church in the Sector 5 slums," she informed him. "It suddenly fell on top of me. It really gave me a scare."

He began to remember snippets of the not-so-distant past.

"…I came crashing down?"

She nodded.

"The roof and the flower bed must have broken your fall. You're lucky."

He looked down. Beautiful flowers, in every colour you could imagine, blossomed all around him.

"Flower bed… is this yours?" he asked her.

He stood up and brushed himself off, looking down at his feet to inspect the damage he'd done to the sweet girl's flowers. To his amazement, none of them seemed to have sustained any damage at all. And even more amazingly, he didn't hurt one bit.

He cleared his throat. "Sorry about that."

"That's all right," she replied. "The flowers here are quite resilient because this is a sacred place.

She turned her back to him.

"They say you can't grow grass and flowers in Midgar," she continued. "But for some reason, the flowers have no trouble blooming here." She looked up, as if taking solace from the heavens. "I love it here."

She walked back over to the flowers and knelt down to look at them, her slender hands brushing softly over the petals as if they were alive and needed love.

"…So, we meet again," she said to him.

Cloud felt uncomfortable and looked away, trying to hide his blushing cheeks with his hands. He had never felt comfortable around girls. They were hard to understand, for starters. Besides, she was pretty, and that certainly didn't help matters.

"…Don't you remember me?" she asked.

He slowly turned around.

"Yeah, I remember… you were selling flowers."

"Oh! I'm so happy!" she squealed, her aquamarine coloured eyes lighting up. "Thanks for buying my flowers."

She looked down to tend to her flowers, her petite hands gently tugging loose some petals that had begun to wither.

"Say, do you have any materia?" she asked him.

"Yes, some. Nowadays you can find materia anywhere."

"But mine is special. It's good for absolutely nothing."

Cloud furrowed his brow. All materia was good for _something._

"…Good for nothing?" he asked. "You probably just don't know how to use it."

"No, I do… it just doesn't do anything." She sighed dreamily. "I feel safe just having it. It was my mother's…"

Cloud didn't know how to respond to this. He'd never heard of anyone growing fond of materia, let alone hanging on to it when it's practically useless. Materia was an aid for battle, not a memento.

"Say, I feel like talking," said the flower girl. "Do you feel up to it? After all, here we are meeting again, right?" She smiled.

"I don't mind," Cloud replied.

"Wait here. I've got to check my flowers. It'll just be a minute."

The young girl smiled at him again; it was an innocent smile that accentuated the warmth in her eyes. It was a shame that he didn't really long to take the time to really get to know girls.

He watched her tend to her flowers for some time, and then walked over to her.

"Just a little longer," she told him. "Oh!" she gasped, as if she had suddenly remembered something important. "Now that you mention it… we don't know each other's names, do we? I'm Aeris, the flower girl. Nice to meet you."

"The name's Cloud. Me…? I do a little bit of everything."

"Oh… a jack of all trades."

"Yeah, I do whatever's needed," Cloud told her.

Aeris started to giggle. She looked as if she was trying hard to suppress it, but just couldn't stop it.

"What's so funny?" Cloud asked, feeling slightly humiliated. "What are you laughing at?"

"Sorry, I just…" she looked down at her feet, as if she was ashamed. "Sorry, bad timing on my part," Aeris told him, apologetically.

That didn't matter anymore. His sense of humour had been shot to pieces; it all stemmed from his past working for SOLDIER. What _did_ matter was the man who had just walked into the church and was staring at Aeris intently. Cloud walked up to the red-haired man who was dressed head to toe in a navy suit.

"Cloud!" Aeris called out to him. "Don't let it get to you!"

"Hello?" Cloud said as he approached the man. His eyes were untrustworthy, Cloud noted.

"Don't worry about me," the man replied.

He turned, and walked back up to Aeris. She had seen the man too and was peeking at him discreetly.

"Say, Cloud," she began. "Have you ever been a bodyguard? You do DO everything, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Then get me out of here. Take me home."

Cloud pondered this for a moment or two.

"OK," he said finally. "I'll do it. But it'll cost you."

"Well then, let's see… how about if I go out with you once?"

This was most definitely not the answer he was expecting. He didn't reply to her; in fact, it wasn't that he didn't want to, it was because he couldn't. He felt his face blush, turned away from her and put his head in his hands.


	17. Pursued

The scrawny looking man was still there, Cloud noticed, as he looked over his shoulder, trying desperately to escape this awkward predicament. Cloud swaggered over to him. He'd fight if he had to.

"I don't know who you are, but…"

A vague memory flashed through his head. This man… he knew who he was. He'd encountered him before.

_I know you._

"Oh yeah…" Cloud said, a hint of hostility creeping into his voice. "I know you. That uniform."

"Hey sis," the sly man said. "This one's a little weird."

Three soldiers stormed through the door and stood behind the man, rigid like statues, poised to strike out if Cloud posed a sudden threat.

"Shut up!" Cloud spat. "You Shinra spy!"

"Reno!" one of the soldiers piped up. "Want him taken out?"

Reno studied Cloud for a few seconds.

"I haven't decided yet."

"Don't fight here!" Aeris interjected. "You'll ruin the flowers!"

Cloud watched her as she ran through the church towards what looked like a back door. He decided to follow her. He didn't want to fight here. Aeris had dedicated her life to caring for the flowers blooming on the church floor and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin all of her hard work.

"The exit is back there," she said, pointing towards the door.

* * *

"They were… Mako eyes," Reno told his comrades.

He turned to face them and was angered to see them laughing between themselves.

_Stupid fools. Good for nothing but fighting. Not a brain between them._

"Yeah, all right. Back to work, back to work."

Disregarding the flowers on the floor, he walked right over them. They crunched under his feet, but he didn't even flinch at the thought of ruining them.

"Oh!" He rushed back towards the soldiers, stopping at the edge of the flowerbed. "And don't step on the flowers…"

"Hey Reno!" one of them shouted. "You just stepped on them!"

"They're all ruined!" another shouted.

"You're gonna catch holy hell!" the third yelled.

* * *

The back room at the other end of the church was in complete disarray. Cloud and Aeris were standing on a wooden landing. A basement was beneath them and was covered in dust, debris and chunks of rotten wood that had crumbled from the landing and the rafters above. A huge concrete pillar had fallen down and had struck the left side of the landing, decimating it. The pillar itself was now propped against the side of the room.

Cloud could hear voices. Reno and his lackeys were pursuing them. He glanced towards some stairs that had been the victim of the pillar. The middle steps had been smashed in. They'd have to jump. Aeris went first, followed by Cloud. As they reached the top landing Reno and his lackeys had made it into the room.

"There they are, over there!" Reno yelled.

Cloud looked down and saw their pursuers glaring up at them hungrily.

"Looks like they aren't going to let us go," Cloud grumbled.

"What should we do?" asked Aeris.

He turned to face her.

"Well, we can't let them catch us, can we? Then, there's only one thing left."

The floor in front of them had decayed. A massive hole separated them from the other side of the landing. They'd have to jump over it. Cloud went first.

"Aeris! This way!" he yelled, motioning with his hand for her to follow him.

She told him she couldn't do it; that the hole was just too big for her to jump across. She'd have to find another way, somehow.

"All right. I'll hold them off," Cloud told her.

"Right. Make sure they don't get through!" exclaimed Aeris.

"The Ancient is getting away!" Reno roared from down below. "Attack! Attack! Attack!"

Rapid gunfire erupted through the air at lightning speed. The sound was sharp and excruciatingly loud, emphasised by the echoes bouncing off the walls. Aeris panicked and tried to jump over the gap, but she lost her footing and fell onto the fallen pillar, sliding all the way down. She screamed.

"Aeris!" Cloud yelled.

He could hear Reno gloating.

"Think we killed 'em?" he asked his lackeys, his voice alarmingly smug. "They shouldn't have put up a fight, I say!"

Bastard! Cloud didn't regard his life as important; he didn't care what happened to him. He had put his life in jeopardy countless times before by working for Shinra. But he was maddened that these scumbags could put a young woman's life in danger and not care whether she lived or died.

"Cloud, help!" Aeris screamed from the bottom of the room.

He looked down and was shocked to see one of the scumbag soldiers charging for her. There's no way she'd be able to hold him off.

"Damn!" Cloud yelled.

He looked up at the rafters and saw something balancing on the left beam.

"What's that?" he wondered. Maybe he could push it over the edge. It could act as a distraction at the very least. He couldn't just stand and watch. He had to give it a go.

"Aeris!" he shouted. "Hold on a minute!"

He raced up a rickety set of stairs and onto the rafters. He noticed that there were four large barrels up here, and they could certainly come in handy if he timed the pushes right. It was a long shot. He also didn't have much time. He raced to the barrel that was stood on the upper left beam and pushed it over.

There was a strangled cry from down below. He glanced down and saw one of the soldiers lying on the ground with a barrel on top of him. It worked!

"Thanks, Cloud," called Aeris.

He watched her run to the foot of the stairs that led to the first landing, but a soldier came charging down them and was poised, ready to grab her. She screamed again and begged Cloud to help her.

"Hold on!" he urged her.

He darted to the right side of the rafters and pushed over another barrel. This one hit the top of the stairs with a bang and rolled right down the stairs, knocking the soldier down like a domino.

Another soldier was pursuing her now. With two barrels left, he pushed over the one nearest to him. Right on target! The soldier crumpled like a deck of cards, allowing Aeris to climb up to the top landing and onto the rafters.

"Aeris, this way," he called, beckoning her towards him.

They had made it to the hole in the roof of the church; a way out. They clambered out, both gasping for breath, and finally made it to safety. They were stood atop the roof of the church. The slums spread out below them, dark and decaying, looking like a scene from a post-apocalyptic world.

"They're looking for me again," Aeris laughed, as though it was such a common occurrence it had become comical.

"You mean it's not the first time they've been after you?" Cloud asked.

"… No."

"They're the Turks," he told her.

"Hmmm."

"The Turks are an organization in Shinra. They scout for possible candidates for SOLDIER."

"This violently?" Aries asked. "I thought they were kidnapping someone."

"They're also involved in a lot of dirty stuff on the side," Cloud said with scorn in his voice. "Spying, murder… you know."

"They look like it," Aeris mumbled, as if she thought the man and his cronies were still watching their every move.

"But, why're they after you?" Cloud asked, intrigued. "There must be a reason, right?"

"No, not really. I think they believe I have what it takes to be in SOLDIER!"

"Maybe you do. You want to join?"

"I don't know," Aeris mused. "But I don't want to get caught by THOSE people!"

"Then, let's go!"

 


	18. Safe Haven

They crossed the rooftops of the many derelict houses and warehouses, and disused shops. Cloud was quick, jumping, ducking and diving through the air as he hopped from roof to roof, but Aeris took her time, stopping at each roof and swinging her arms back and forth before making that final decision to jump.

"Wait…" called Aeris nervously. "Wait I said!"

He turned around and watched as she gingerly jumped from a roof. When she caught up with him she bent down and put her hands on her knees, breathing hard.

"Slow… down…Don't leave me…" she wheezed.

Cloud laughed to himself.

"Funny… I thought you were cut out to be in SOLDIER?"

"Oh!" she giggled. "You're terrible!"

They started to laugh and both found that they couldn't stop. Cloud was laughing so hard his chest hurt. He hadn't laughed like that for a long time.

"Hey… Cloud," she began. "Were you… ever in SOLDIER?"

He paused for a moment. It was just a simple question but one of the hardest ones to answer.

"… I used to be," he said. "How did you guess?"

"… Your eyes. They have a strange glow…"

"That's the sign of those who have been infused with Mako…" he told her. "A mark of SOLDIER. But, how did you know about that?"

She averted his gaze.

"… Oh, nothing," she whispered.

"Nothing?"

"Right, nothing! Come on, let's go! Bodyguard!"

They eventually left the rooftops and onto terra firma where junk spread out all around them. The slums were like one big junk yard, foul smelling and full of pollution. The worst thing? People lived here. They were too poor to move up onto the plate so they had no choice but to live in poverty down here, with no natural light and no fresh air. It was disgusting.

"Whew!" Aeris said, exhaling. "Finally made it off! Now what…?"

She looked around nervously and then darted left towards the main residential area of the Sector 5 Slums.

"My house is over here," she called. "Hurry before he comes."

The houses were essentially huts, rusted and grimy, with years of damage marking their exterior, and dented roofs. Cloud wondered if the many dents and pockmarks were caused by shrapnel falling from the plate above. He looked around at all the rubble and bits of scrap metal; the belly of the plate above was definitely eroding. What chance did a person have if they were stuck by one of these rogue chunks?

_None at all_ he thought miserably.

They passed a man standing in front of a large metal pipe that on first glance looked like a disused sewer tunnel. When Cloud looked closer he saw that there was a bluish light coming from inside, as if someone had got a television in there.

"That guy in the pipe's a weird one," the man said. "No matter what you ask him, he only answers 'uuh' or 'aahh'."

They stood directly in front of the pipe's entrance. Cloud saw a sickly looking man sitting on a grotty bed.

"This guy is sick," Aeris whispered. "He passed out nearby and someone must have helped him here."

They went inside. The man seemed to vaguely recognise that someone had entered because he started to groan and whine. He looked up at them pleadingly but something in his eyes was cold and lifeless.

"This is the one… Won't you help him?" Aeris urged.

"Listen, I'm no doctor," replied Cloud shaking his head.

Aeris hung her head. "No… I guess not…"

Cloud eyed the man closely. His face was gaunt, matching his deadened eyes. Whatever this man had got, it was slowly killing him. He didn't have to be a doctor to work that one out.

"Hey…" began Aeris. "That man has a tattoo. I think it was the number 2."

What did that mean? Cloud wondered. Not wanting to watch the man like he was some sort of freak show, he followed Aeris through the slums and into a passageway at the north end of the town that seemed to exude a beautiful turquoise coloured light.

The place that lay beyond was beautiful. Cloud looked around in awe. It was like a little piece of heaven had fallen from the sky and had settled in the wastelands that were the slums. It certainly didn't belong here, that was for sure. A house stood, proud and tall, amidst a garden that was full of gleaming yellow flowers. Surrounding the garden were pools of glistening water that seemed to glow vibrantly. Was this where Aeris lived? She was a very lucky woman to live in a house like this in such a hideous place.

_A little piece of heaven_ Cloud thought.

Aeris led him into the house. When he entered, a beautiful smell greeted his nostrils; a mixture of fragrant flowers and cookie dough. The décor was warm and welcoming; a far cry from the dirty houses in the slums.

"I'm home, mom," Aeris called.

A warm-faced woman ambled in from the kitchen wearing a forest green dress and donning an apron. She had her hair tied up in a bun.

"This is Cloud," Aeris told her. "My bodyguard."

"Bodyguard…?" her mum asked, worry spreading across her features. "You mean you were followed again!?" She moved closer to her daughter, cupping her face in her hands. "Are you all right!? You're not hurt, are you!?"

"I'm all right," Aeris told her reassuringly. "I had Cloud with me."

Aeris' mum looked over at Cloud. "Thank you, Cloud," she told him.

Her mum left the room, leaving the two of them alone.

"So what are you going to do now?" Aeris asked him.

"…Is Sector 7 far from here? I want to go to Tifa's bar."

"Is Tifa… a girl?" she enquired as she rung her hands together nervously.

"Yeah."

"A girl… friend?"

"Girlfriend? No way!" Cloud scoffed.

Aeris hid her head in her hands and started to giggle. Cloud felt his face flush. What was going on? He didn't understand girls at all.

"You don't have to get THAT upset…" she snapped. "Well… that's nice," she added, her voice calming down. "Let's see, Sector 7? I'll show you the way."

Cloud couldn't let put her life in danger, not when the Turks were after her. He raised his concerns.

"You gotta be kidding. Why do you want to put yourself in danger again?"

"I'm used to it," she casually replied.

"Used to it?! Cloud yelled, shocked that such a kind and gentle woman could acclimatise to such brutality. Another emotion swept through him then; embarrassment. It was the one thing he had no control over; his emotions. He liked to think of himself as a cold mercenary, but truth is he had more emotions swimming around in his head than he'd like to admit.

"Well, don't know… getting help from a girl…" he said feebly.

"A girl!" Aeris yelled, her calm demeanour dissipating in a flash. "What do you mean by that!?"

He always said the wrong thing. Dammit!

"You expect me to just sit by and listen, after hearing you say something like that!?" She huffed, glaring at Cloud. "Mom! I'm taking Cloud to Sector 7. I'll be back in a while," she shouted to her, stubbornly.

Her mum descended the stairs and stood in the living room.

"But dear… I give up. You never listen once you've made up your mind. But if you must go, why don't you go tomorrow? It's getting late now."

"Yeah, you're right, mom," Aeris replied.

"Aeris, please go and make the bed," her mum ordered.

With Cloud and Aeris' mum now alone, she decided to have a little heart-to-heart with him. He found out that her name was Elmyra, but it was the only bit of information she would disclose about herself.

"That glow in your eyes… you're from SOLDIER, right?"

"Yeah. Rather I used to be…"

She paused for a moment, her features panged with concern.

"I don't know how to say this, but… would you please leave here, tonight? Without telling Aeris."

He agreed. It was probably the right thing to do. Aeris was a stubborn woman, and strong-willed, but she also appeared gullible and sensitive. She wouldn't stand a chance if the Turks caught her.

He went upstairs to get a bit of shut-eye and found Aeris on the landing.

"You need to go through Sector 6 to get to Sector 7. Sector 6 is a little dangerous so you'd better get some rest tonight."

"Okay."

"Cloud…" she called after him as he headed to his room. "Good night."

She headed downstairs.

"Oh, man…" He didn't expect it to be this hard. He went to his room and settled down in the bed.


	19. Brief Encounter

The bed was extremely comfortable, like lying on clouds. The duvet was thick and warm, and the pillows were soft and downy. He'd left his door open just a crack. A warm sliver of light from the landing slipped through the space in the door and as he looked towards it he felt his eyes getting heavier and heavier.

_Seem pretty tired._

He hadn't felt this sleepy in a while. He could get used to this.

_I haven't slept in a bed like this… in a long time._

It was just a shame that he'd have to leave this place in a few hours time; not only because he'd have to leave this room and all of its luxuries, but because he felt like he was letting Aeris down.

"Oh, yeah," Cloud thought aloud, remembering something from his past.

_Ever since that time._

He drifted off into sleep, where a familiar dream slowly started to form in his mind. He was lying on his back, spread out on a green coloured bed. The room was large, with the bedroom, kitchen and lounge combining as one. It had a beautiful warm feeling to it and a lot of emotions struck his heart; namely, nostalgia. That feeling of nostalgia was so powerful that he felt like crying. His past had come back to greet him, but he couldn't touch it. It was so close, yet so far away. He wanted to scream.

"My, how you've grown. I'll bet the girls never leave you alone."

His mother. He never forgot her voice.

"…Not really," said Cloud.

She paced the room.

"… I'm worried about you. There are a lot of temptations in the city…" She sighed. "I'd feel a lot better if you just settled down and had a nice girlfriend."

"…I'm all right," Cloud told her.

"You should have…" She paused for a moment or two. "…an older girlfriend, one that'll take care of you. I think that would be the perfect type for you."

"… I'm not interested," Cloud murmured.

He woke with a start, his heart hammering in his chest.

"… I must have fallen asleep," he whispered to himself. He was hoping for a short nap; instead, he'd drifted off into a deep sleep.

He stood up and brushed himself off. He headed to the door.

"Sector 7's past Sector 6… I should be all right by myself…"

He could hear Aeris humming to herself in the adjoining room. She was awake so he'd have to be really careful not to arouse her suspicions that he was out on the landing. He opened his door slowly and crept across the landing tentatively. The slightest sound could alert her so he had to be really careful. He crept down the stairs and eventually made it into the living room. He crept through here too, just to be on the safe side.

Back in the slums, he traipsed through the dirt tracks, passing the grimy metal huts and rusted shops. When he came to the crossroads that led to the different sectors, he was shocked and a little disorientated when he bumped into Aeris. How…? She was in her room just ten minutes ago! This wasn't going to plan at all…

"You're up bright and early," she said chirpily.

Cloud sighed and shook his head.

"How could I ask you to go along when I knew it would be dangerous?" he said.

Aeris let out an annoyed sigh.

"Are you done?" she asked him, her arms folded. "You have to go through the slum in Sector 6 to get to Tifa's 7th Heaven. I'll take you there. Come on!"

Cloud reluctantly followed her across a cracked concrete road. Massive cracks cut through it, raising it in parts and rendering it impossible to navigate; that's if it weren't for the dedication of the slum-folk. They had 'built' ramps made out of wood so that people could walk to the raised sections and get across to the other end of the sector. Cloud and Aeris eventually reached the other side.

A dilapidated play-area was at the other side, with a small area of waste-ground behind it. He doubted that any parent would let their child play on the broken slide and swings there; but children had to have fun, didn't they? What else was there for them to do?

"The gate to Sector 7's in there," Aeris told him, pointing towards the waste-ground.

"Thanks. I guess this is goodbye," he told her, hoping she'd take the hint. "You gonna be all right going home?"

"Oh no!" she blurted. "Whatever will I do!?"

Cloud looked at her and furrowed his brow. What was all that about?

"…Isn't that what you want me to say?"

"So, you really want to come with me?" Cloud asked her.

"I could do that. But won't I be in your way?"

"What do you mean in the way?"

Aeris smiled. "Nothing!"

She took a sharp intake of breath.

"Can we take a break?" she asked.

Cloud thought it would be a good idea. He could use one, after all. He wasn't made of steel.

They walked through the gate leading to the play area and stopped there for a while. Aeris looked up at a metal dome that appeared to depict a cute, round monster of some sort. The slide that came out of it was supposed to be its tongue.

"I can't believe it's still here," said Aeris.

As quick as a cat, she ran around the dome, climbed up and sat down on top of it.

"Cloud, over here!" she called.

He followed, and sat down next to her. It was oddly reminiscent of that time he and Tifa sat at the well back in Nibelheim. Thinking about it gave him a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"What rank were you?"

"Rank?"

"You know, in SOLDIER."

"Oh, I was…" A flashback caught him off guard. In a split second it had come, and in a split second it had gone again. "First Class."

"Just the same as him," Aeris said, her voice drifting off.

"The same as who?"

"My first boyfriend."

"You were… serious?" he asked her.

"No. But I liked him for a while."

"I probably knew him. What was his name?"

"It doesn't really matter," Aeris said, her voice taking on a melancholic edge as she thought of old memories.

In the background was a large concrete wall with a metal gate fitted in the centre. The gate opened up with a low rumble, causing Cloud to turn and look. A Chocobo scampered out pulling an elaborate, maroon and purple coloured carriage cart. He glanced inside and could have sworn he saw Tifa sat inside, wearing a shiny purple dress.

"Huh? Hey, back there…" He stood up. "Tifa!?"

Aeris had also stood up.

"That girl in the cart was Tifa? Where was she going? She looked kind of odd…"

The carriage cart continued right and had rounded the corner so fast that Cloud knew he'd have little chance at catching up to her.

Aeris, seemingly eager to find out more about Tifa, jumped off the slide and tried to catch up with her.

"Wait!" Cloud yelled after her. "I'll go on alone! You go home!"

He shook his head and sighed. He had no choice but to follow her. He jumped off the slide and headed after Aeris.


End file.
